BHUBANESWAR: In a jolt to the BJP ahead of the November 11 Nuapada by-election, Harish Chandra Panda, former president of the Nuapada district Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and nephew of senior BJP leader Basant Kumar Panda, former vice-president of Nuapada district BJP Tekram Sahu and ex-Nuapada town president Umesh Sahis joined BJD on Tuesday.
Panda joined the BJD after meeting party president Naveen Patnaik in the evening. It was like a homecoming for Panda as he had joined BJD in March, 2019 after resigning from the BJP. However, he again left the regional party to rejoin the BJP, a few months after the general elections in May, 2019.
Speaking on the occasion, he said the BJP had ignored the workers of the party by fielding Jay Dholakia as its candidate. “Many BJP workers will join the BJD in the coming days and ensure the victory of party candidate Snehangini Chhuria in the bypoll,” he added.
Panda was welcomed back to the BJD by senior general secretary Dibya Shankar Mishra at the Sankha Bhawan here.